Lost in the City: Tree of Desire and Serafin Read Free Page A

the ten-peso bill to the driver. She put away the tickets and the change, six silver coins jingling together making quite a noise, with so many. Lucas moved around in the bag, and Joaquín looked at it caressingly. He stayed firmly attached to the bar with both hands, as if clinging to a topmast in a heavy storm.
    â€œGet on, get on!” the driver shouted. “There’s room in the rear!”
    Then Lucas escaped from the bag with a leap and a meow, as if they had kept him under water for a long time. He ran down the aisle again between cries of fright and laughter.
    â€œHe’s our cat,” Cristina told the driver.
    â€œGo get him.” Without looking at her, he began to speed up.
    â€œCan we stay?”
    He didn’t answer and, preferring not to insist, she went with Joaquín to find Lucas.
    They ran the gauntlet of piercing looks and found the cat crouched with flaming eyes underneath the last seat.
    â€œGet that thing out of here!” ordered the woman who, until the moment before his arrival, had been seated where Lucas was, and who was now swaying dangerously with a basket on her arm, grasping for the bar and catching only air.
    â€œHe’s going to scratch you! He’s frantic!” a shrill voice cried from a nearby seat.
    However, Joaquín disappeared under the seat, as if diving into a swimming pool, and came up all smiles, holding Lucas up high.
    â€œI told you not to pick him up that way!” Cristina protested and took advantage of the incident to occupy the two seats, in the face of the murderous looks of the woman with the basket.
    Joaquín insisted on occupying the window seat, but his sister explained she had to watch the streets to avoid going too far. So he climbed on top of her, because he wanted to look out and show things to Lucas—whom he was carrying with both hands, as if he were a baby—“Look, a bicycle, a dog, a popsicle cart,” with a peal of laughter for each discovery. Cristina told herself, Patience, Cristina, and decided to put him on her lap and continue the game, showing amusement at his discoveries.
    For a while nobody occupied the next seat (the woman with thebasket had found one farther up), so she put the coats there. She had to move them when a very fair, blonde woman, wearing a black suit and smelling of perfume, asked:
    â€œMay I sit here, little girl?”
    So Cristina put everything on her knees. The woman gave her a friendly smile that the girl ignored.
    â€œDo you know where to get off?” Cristina nodded her head without taking her eyes off the window. The boy, on the other hand, exchanged smiles with the woman, who ended up patting his cheek with the tips of her fingers.
    â€œWhat a handsome boy. And what a pretty cat,” although she did not dare pat it.
    â€œHe’s Lucas,” Joaquín told her.
    â€œLucas? Like the one in the comics?”
    â€œNo. Another Lucas.”
    â€œWhere are you going, child?”
    The boy looked at his sister.
    â€œKeetee knows.”
    â€œHow old are you?”
    With difficulty, the boy managed to separate four fingers and hold them up.
    â€œThis much.”
    â€œAnd your sister?”
    The child looked at his hands, helpless. Cristina pointed out a motorcycle to distract him. The woman’s interest bothered her. What business was it of hers? The boy let himself be intrigued by the attractions outside and forgot their neighbor, who became silent and looked straight ahead. When she got off, Cristina sighed with relief. The seat was occupied by a large man, who began reading his paper.
    As they went farther along, Cristina’s anxiety increased. How far should they go? And had they passed Sanborn’s, the only reference point she remembered? Why did everything—every wall, every house, every store—look strange to her?
    When she saw Sanborn’s, she jumped and cried, “There it is,” pointing her finger at it. The boy was